2 city residents charged in house breaks

March 9, 2012

NORTH SCITUATE â€” State law enforcement officials are charging two Woonsocket residents with a series of house breaks throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
According to Col. Steven G. Oâ€™Donnell, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Commissioner of Public Safety, detectives had received information from the Mansfield (Mass.) Police Department indicating that Ian Catherwood, 23, and his girlfriend, Anne Marie Schafer, 20, both of 497 Rathbun St. in Woonsocket, were parties of interest in unsolved breaks in Massachusetts, according to a press release. Detectives were also able to confirm that Catherwood was a suspect in additional housebreaks in Exeter and North Kingstown and was wanted by the Sixth Division District Court for failure to appear on an unrelated charge.
During the early morning hours of March 8, detectives responded to Woonsocket and arrested the couple without incident at their residence. A court-authorized search warrant was executed, resulting in the recovery of narcotics, as well as several items believed to have been stolen. Catherwood had been previously charged by Massachusetts authorities on several counts of receiving stolen goods and breaking and entering and has been wanted as a fugitive from justice on pending charges stemming from an unsolved house break being investigated by the Northborough (Massachusetts) Police.
Both suspects were returned to Rhode Island State Police headquarters in Scituate where they were charged with two felony counts and one misdemeanor count for receiving stolen goods and possession of the following illegal narcotics: heroin, suboxone and marijuana.
In addition, Catherwood was charged as a Fugitive from Justice from Massachusetts for receiving stolen goods, as well as with breaking and entering and conspiracy. Both parties were held at the Adult Correctional Institution and presented for formal arraignment Friday morning in Sixth Division District Court in Providence. Catherwoodâ€™s bail was set at $100,000 with surety with the agreement he would voluntarily waive extradition to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Schaferâ€™s bail was set at $50,000 with surety.